Under Nightsiege
Cambria The Assembly of Worlds is an impressive, but relatively small facility. As there is no atmosphere, everything is encased within many levels of metal armour. There is artificial gravity which can be modified if needed. The spaceport houses massive doors that open up to receive incoming shuttles. Other facilities on Cambria include guest quarters for aliens of all shapes and sizes, and food/energy processing stations. But the real attraction here is the Assembly itself. This is a huge circular room with rows upon rows of boxes of varying sizes all around, facing inwards. Each box has a small podium, a computer monitor, and several seats. The Assembly's only wartime defense is the knowledge that should it be destroyed, it would not be difficult to create another small outpost elsewhere. Contents: Sandstorm Jayson Redfield Rodimus Prime On Cambria, the Autobots have an embassy. They don't use it much, given that they aren't very well liked. Kup doesn't really think much of diplomacy; actions speak louder than words, and today, he wants to use said embassy for some action. He looks around the longue at the assembled Autobots and allies, and he explains, "Today, I'd like to go over hostage situations. Brought some supplies along." He nods at some crates. "But first, I'll need volunteers to be hostages, terrorists, or rescuers. If I don't get enough, I'll just start assigning people, and you don't want that." Rodimus Prime considers. /Kup/ is running this exercise, which means that volunteering is a bad idea. But it also means that getting assigned a role is a bad idea. But... he's not Hot Rod anymore, he's Rodimus Prime, which means Kup can't boss him around, anyway. He leans back from his place in an Autobot-scaled armchair where he sits with his left leg thrown casually over the arm and smirks, lifting his right hand. "I'll be the hostage. Be nice to let everyone else do all the work for once." Sandstorm lounged against a wall, idly picking some grit out of the groove of one of his knuckle joints with the point of his combat knife. Could almost look lazy, to someone that doesn't know the Triplechanger very well, until he looks up when Kup starts speaking. 'Hostile situations' was bread and butter for the Wreckers.. though he looks a little put out that he's the only one that showed up so far. Imp'll have to chew some afts out if he finds out the others weren't doing something else important that they missed a training excersize they shouldn't of. Though right now, he had to worry more about the old crankcase running the show more than the one that's normally yelling orders for him. "Okay, give me whatever then." And smirks a bit. He knows letting Kup pick is probably a dangerous proposition... and knowing Sandstorm, he's probably stepping into that pile of slag on purpose. Jayson Redfield really doesn't know why he's even here, as he wasn't present at *any* hostage situations. At this time he is being quiet, keeping his distance and generally avoiding any kind of contact with his Autobot allies, especially Rodimus. With his gaze lowered, he gives no indication that he is actually hearing Kup, until he glances up. "I'll be a rescuer," he mutters, just loud enough to be heard. Yeah, he's been kind of depressed. It's pretty obvious. Kup snorts as Rodimus Prime says he'll let the others do all the work, and he points at the Prime and explains to the others, "And this is why we all need this lesson. See, the role of a hostage is to try to make his captor's life as miserable as he can... without getting himself slagged. Stayin' alive is priority number one. But if you can escape safely? Go for it. And remember your captor is the /enemy/, no matter how nice he's bein'. Don't want no Stockholm Syndrome jetslag. Sandstorm, you're with Jayson, then." The lad seems a bit a bit down, so maybe Sandstorm's courage and bravado will rub off a bit. Then, Kup jerks a thumb at his own chest. "Which mean I'm playing the bad guy today." He grins, just a bit cruelly, and he stalks over to pop open one of the crates. Jayson Redfield is suddenly very afraid... Sandstorm looks from Rodimus, to Kup, to Rodimus again. "Make the captor's life difficult, eh? Well Roddy, you've got plenty of experience doin' that to the old mech already, this role is right up your alley!" Chuckles a bit at his own joke, come'on guys, cheer up a little. He pushes himself up from the wall, watching with intent curiosity as to just what Kup has got in store. Rodimus Prime smirks up at Kup as he chides Rodimus over the hostage's job., then nods at what Sandstorm says. "So you're /encouraging/ me to make your life miserable?" Rodimus shifts in his seat so he can put both his feet on the floor and claps his hands together eagerly. "Man, I think I'm going to /like/ this exercise!" he grins, rubbing his hands together. Jayson Redfield shifts slightly, looking vaguely uncomfortable. Sure, it's just an exercise, but if he froze up on the battlefield then what good will he be rescuing a hostage? He continues to keep his distance from the Autobots, avoiding looking at Rodimus. Kup pulls a claw-like device out of the crate and explains, "This is an inhibitor claw. It prevents transformation. Quick and easy to just slap on someone's back in the field. So up with you, lad," he looks over at Rodmus Prime, "you're a model now." He holds out the claw with one hand, the other behind his back. "Jayson, Sandstorm, there ought to be some different sizes of electro-stinger paintball rifles in the crate. They kinda hurt a bit," like Hell, "but the pain helps you /remember/ a lot better than a sim room does, 'cos it's real, not fake." Rodimus Prime stands up. "Well, I /do/ look pretty good," he answers as Kup says that he's a 'model' now. He turns his back to Kup so the veteran can slap the inhibitor claw on his back and glances at Jayson. For a moment, he looks sad, but he forces that away so he can give the youth a confident grin instead. "Come on, Jayson, buck up! This'll be /fun/!" "Here here to -that-!", Sandstorm cheers when Kup says they're going to be using non-lethal but /live/ ammunition, as it were, walking over to peer inside one of the crates for himself. "Pain is just fear leaving the body, anyways." After a bit of rummaging around he pulls out one of the guns, holding it up in both hands to test the weight, then lifts it at an angle in front of him as if checking sights. "About the same size and weight as my usual blaster... There's some human sized ones in there too, Jay. Right-side corner closest to Kup's feet there." "I guess," Jayson replies half-heartedly to Rodimus as he heads to the crate and grabs one of the human-sized rifles. Like Sandstorm, he checks it over, making sure everything is in order. Kup does more than just slap the claw on Rodimus Prime's back. He drops a combat knife into the hand behind his back and none-too-gently pops open a few panels on Rodimus Prime, deftly slitting the power lines to his radio and weapons. Kup explains, "The radio power line's usually pretty easy to find, and if your captor ain't an idiot - and he might be - he'll cut it. The weapons lines are a bit trickier to find, but this boyo has, after all, been giving me trouble for ages. Without a radio to cry for help or weapons access, it's real easy to get down, but you gotta understand, even unarmed, you're never really unarmed. Anything can be a weapon - a chair, a table, your fists, feet, knees and elbows. So don't let your captors demoralise or intimidate you." He looks pleased by Sandstorm's advocacy of 'live' ammunition, and he grabs a rather old-fashioned paintball musket for himself. "A'ight, so you two, get together, figure out how you wanna handle this, while I take Rodimus off and hide him in the Embassy somewhere. Y'ken /try/ asking me what my demands are. You can run in full force. You can sneak around. Up to you." "Ow! Hey!" Rodimus exclaims as his power lines are cut. He lifts his right hand to rub the place where he's been sliced open on his elbow. "Old man, if Cambria is attacked by Decepticons /right/ now, I am using you for a shield, just so you know." Sandstorm glances up for a moment, looking over the rest of the lobby, and doing some quick calcs in his head of the general size and layout of the embassy. "The more improbably the better," he quips after Kup's advice. Anything they don't see comin' is your advantage." He almost sounds serious for a moment... but it's all the usual smirks and bravado as he kneels down next to Jayson, resting the 'stinger' rifle butt-down on the floor while gripping it around the body. "So either we do this cover ops style... or action hero style." Jayson Redfield keeps his voice low. "Cover ops is probably the better option. There's no telling what could happen if we just head in with guns blazing." Holding the rifle in one hand, he uses the other to lower his goggles down over his eyes. He's still depressed, but unwilling to establish himself as a mere burden. "Let's go." Kup banters back, "If Cambria is attacked by Decepticons /right now/, you'll have to grab me first, lad, because I'll be after them faster than you can say, 'Slag'." He tries to grab Rodimus roughly by the elbow, intent on hauling him off. He's already thinking about where he wants to go, where he'd hole up if he was a crazed zealot with unreasonable demands. Some place defensible and hard to get into, where he can barricade the exits easily enough... some place without windows... the bomb shelter in the basement. "Oh, like that means anything coming from a slowpoke like you," Rodimus answers as he's hauled off. He puts up some resistance as he's pulled along, but for the moment doesn't put up a full-fledged fight out of concern for ending the exercise before it's started. And so Kup vanishes out of view. He takes a rather twisty path, and he throws out some false 'clues' along the way in the form of paint chips, to confuse the trail, but eventually, he ends up in the basement bomb shelter, where he starts about setting up barricades at the door. As Kup begins setting up barricades, Rodimus takes a moment to try to feel along his back, checking for the inhibitor claw. Unfortunately, Transformers aren't real well built for scratching their own backs, and Rodimus's spoilers get in the way on top of things, so he can't really grab the thing. Then he starts to look around the bomb shelter, walking along the wall and investigating it, checking what else might be inside. Wreckers have /no/ problem with the 'guns blazing' way... but that only really works when you've got more than one of them. Fortunately Sandstorm is a bit more laid back and much more reasonable, if still a bit crazy, than some of his teammates. He waits for a few moments, giving Kup long enough to actually haul Rodimus out of the room, before finally standing back up. "Too open out here, he'll go farther into the complex. Where, don't know yet.. but that'd just make it too easy..." Sandstorm pauses, narrowing his optics a bit. He's already looking for clues which way Kup went. Even light struggling from a prisoner can leave scratch marks or knock something out of place... "Okay, lets sneak around a bit, figure out where he went with him... we can figure out just how to deal with the actual hostility when we find out the sort of situation he holes themselves up in." Plan?... well, okay, yeah. There will be planning... Sandstorm just prefers to write the plan as he's going. Waiting to think too long is all the more time for the terrorist to hide, or possibly do worse to his prisoner.... The bomb shelter is provisioned with a lot of MREs, designed for both robots (energon MREs are terrible) and a smaller amount for humans (still terrible). A small amount of replacement parts. Some wall plug-ins for recharging. Overhead lighting. A self-contained air supply. As soon at the door is reasonably locked up and blocked with some of the sparse furniture, Kup turns to watch what Rodimus is doing. If Rodimus gets too close to the MREs, Kup will step in to shoo him off. It's probably a lot easier for Jayson to sneak around, since he's not a giant robot. And quite frankly, he's guilty of rushing head-on into combat, given his youthful, reckless nature, but he's come to realize that's not always a good idea. Spotting some paint chips nearby, he approaches and examines them. "Check this out. Could just be a false trail, as I don't think anyone would be dumb enough to leave such obvious clues. But on the other hand, you never know..." Rodimus Prime gets too close to the MREs. Sandstorm pauses and kneels down to inspect the paint chips for himself. ".. Planted." He points as he looks to the EDC officer. "See how they're almost all lying painted 'face' up. Like someone threw them. If they were scraped off by the struggling, they'd be more scattered and random, not tossed together... But still, noticing something is good. A fearful, irrational terrorist might make such a mistake... but even if he's trying to be crazy and evil, he's still Kup. He's -trying- to test us." He grins a bit as he pats Jayson on the back lightly with a couple of fingers encouragingly before standing up. "Even if its a false clue, it's there, meaning they have been here." He considers a moment radioing Kup for 'demands talk', but holds off for a moment. They need a better bearing, so he starts moving warily again. ".. Look for a terminal or info station of some sort. To look up an actual floor plan for this place." Rodimus Prime approaches the spare parts that are in the room. He reaches for one... Kup stalks over to Rodimus, a scowl on his face, and he tries to forcibly drag the Prime away. Energon MREs are just improvised explosives waiting to happen! Rodimus Prime is dragged away from the MREs! But what about the spare parts? Those too! There are terminals about, but they just show the 'public' floorplan. Need a bit more security access to get a completely layout. Wouldn't want just /anyone/ knowing where all the saferooms are. Rodimus Prime struggles rather a lot this time as he's dragged away. It's probably noisy. Jayson Redfield does not hear Rodimus's struggles! At least, not yet. He simply nods to Sandstorm and starts combing the place for a terminal...though he's unknowingly getting closer to where Kup took Rodimus, and as a result the faint sounds of Prime's struggling reaches his ears, though he has to strain to hear them. "Quiet!" he hisses to Sandstorm. "You hear that?" Kup is pleased, actually, even if he's not showing it. Making noise is good for a captive - gets attention, if anyone cares to pay attention. A lot of people just ignore noises, though. Kup rounds on Rodimus and demands, voice a low growl, "Knock it off, or you'll be sorry!" For good measure, he tries to give Rodimus a shake. Rodimus Prime is shaken! He exclaims, voice /not/ low, "Okay! Okay! What do you /want/, anyway?" Kup has to think up some insane demands, so he rolls with, "I demand one billion unmarked shanix, control of Moonbase 2, and the Uniswifter." He rubs his chin, thinking that over. "And, uh, freedom from your tyrannous oppression. And for you to /shut up/. That's about it, I think." "You can't have the Uniswifter! How else am I going to oppressm tyranically while in the lap of luxury?!" Rodimus exclaims, sounding shocked. Sandstorm frowns when they find a terminal, but it's only 'public' access. If they had Jazz or someone good with computers, sure, hacking it could be possible. But despite his own technical aptitude Sandstorm doesn't trust the speed he could do it at. Every second is too vital to not being doing something constructive. The Wrecker pauses as Jayson says to be quiet, straining to hear as he dials up the sensativity of his audio input. Even if he doesn't have some of the fancy intricate hardward, he's got keen senses as a scout. He nods a bit. "Yeah.. this way." He starts moving in the direction the sounds. "Raido Kup, check on the prisoners safety, ask his demands." While Jayson does that, he can focus on following the noises. "In short, keep his attention." "You got it..." Jayson taps his earpiece and tunes it into Kup's frequency. "Mr. Kidnapper?" Kup rants at Rodimus, "The shutting up is the important part, turbopig! Your brainwashed minion-slaves will cede to my demands, or... gimme a minute." Taking one hand off Rodimus to hold the side of his helmet, he replies to Jayson over the radio, "Lackey! Are you ready to hear my just and righteous demands?" Kup can't help snickering a bit. "All right, all right!" Rodimus answers sullenly, pulling away. "Just let me /go/." He attempts to pull his other arm out of Kup's grip. Jayson Redfield keeps his fingers on his earpiece. Hopefully he's doing a good job of distracting Kup! "Yes...now speak." He can faintly hear Rodimus on the other side of the radio conversation. Sandstorm idly picks Jayson up while he's on the radio, so he doesn't have to try and keep up with him and talk at the same time. The sounds die down a bit, but he's already got a reasonable bead on where they were coming from, still straining to pick up any more sounds. The roundabout way Kup went is slowing down even him a bit. "It doesn't sound like they're on the same level as us... bet this place has a hidden basement or something..." he murmurs lowly, keeping a hushed tone so it can't be heard over the radio. Kup doesn't so much let Rodimus go as his grip slackens a bit. If Kup was really trying to keep someone hostage for some reason, he'd pay a bit more attention, but this is a learning exercise, and it's got Jayson /doing/ something more than just moping. "I demand one billion unmarked shanix, control of Moonbase 2, the Uniswifter, and freedom from tyrannous oppression!" Rodimus Prime snatches his arm away as soon as Kup's grip slackens, and he scurries away from the elder. He immediately opens up a panel in his left arm and attempts to tie some wires together. Sandstorm nods a bit. Now where did... aha. An unmarked doorway. If it needed to be kept secret but easily accessable by dumb paniced diplomats in an emergency, that'd be the best way to 'hide' it. He doesn't say anything, but does point the door out to Jayson. "Keep him talking." Sets the human down, and creeps up to the door to test the handle, attempting to jiggle just enough to test if its locked or blocked or not with making as little actual noise as possible. He's going on the conversation over the radio to help keep the oldtimer's attention elsewhere. Jayson Redfield is very good at moping. At least he didn't come to this drunk. (Although the last time he *did* get drunk, Impactor was to blame.) "One billion?" he reiterates. He doesn't mind that Sandstorm has picked him up, as he's quite used to it. "You're insane! But..." He sighs. "I suppose we don't have a choice. The rest? That easily can be arranged." "Quiet before the storm hits," Sandstorm mutters... and not a minute later the racket from the scuffle can be heard, without having to strain so much now. "Sounds rough.. I think sneaky-sneaky time is over with. Get your gun ready. If you get an open shot, take it." Sandstorm holds up his own, and waits a moment. He's listen to the sounds, waiting until they're going strong so the noise they're making down there covers up the noise of him hefting a metal heel and kicking at the door. Kup is sent rolling towards the MREs as Rodimus Prime guides the fall. He tries to get a better hold and lock on the Prime, struggling. He shouts a bit incoherently over the radio, "The demands have gone up due to extreme duress! I also demand the tallest tree in the forest!" Meanwhile, the door holds up to Sandstorm's kicking. It's pretty sturdy, the sliding kind designed to slide in and out of the wall. Jayson Redfield suddenly feels like he's in a Monty Python sketch! "You want...a tree. Did I hear you correctly?" Rodimus Prime /rips/ off the side panel on his left arm and sends it clattering across the floor! Then he attempts to reach into the wires once more, smashing the ones Kup cut earlier together in an attempt to get a spark! Sandstorm frowns as the door doesn't go down, though not really that surprised. It's designed to be tough, and it's probably barricaded on the inside as well. That'd only be logical. "Heh.. Think its time to go back to the Wrecker playbook, and bend the rules some." With a chuckle he grips the 'stinger' rifle in one hand... and pulls his Sandblaster out. Hey, Kup gave them non-lethal weapons... but he never specifically stated they could /not/ use their normal ordinance, either. "Open says-a-me." Fires a blast of the armor-eating silicate at the big doors, hoping that even if it doesn't just shred the obstruction apart it'll weaken it enough that his next blow won't be stonewalled in knocking it open. The door was made to withstand explosives, but it wasn't made to withstand /sand/. The architects didn't expect the inhabitants to have a case of the crazy or be Wreckers, which amount to about the same thing. Oh well, they can rebuild the door later, stronger than before, because Sandstorm shreds it but good, revealing the impromptu furniture barricade, the sound of Kup cussing up a blue streak, and an /explosion/. Rodimus Prime stays on the ground and tries to roll out of the way of the explosion, instinctively trying to shield Kup from it in the process. His back is still badly scorched by it, but his thick armor takes the brunt of the blast, even if his paint job is now ruined. Granted, /protecting/ his /captor/ probably isn't the smartest thing for Rodimus to be doing, but in the moment of the explosion, his instincts take over. Combat: Rodimus Prime misses Kup with his Explosion Shield (Grab) attack! Combat: Rodimus Prime (Rodimus Prime) used "Grab": A Level 0 MELEE attack. Jayson Redfield shields his goggled eyes from the explosion, trusting Sandstorm to keep him safe from it. "Just let everyone know we're here, why don't you!" So much for the door... but then an explosion goes off inside right after, Sandstorm jerking an arm up to shield his face from any sparks or debris that may come flying out. Not to mention stepping so he's in front of Jayson, letting one of his legs get pelted in fire and ash instead. "That explosion came from inside, not the door. Slaggit! RODIMUS, KUP!" Screw the 'training' part of the excersize! Once he's gotten his bearings back after the moment of surprise, Sandstorm charges headlong into the room to try and find both of the other Autobots. "Dammit, the explosions aren't s'pose to come until /after/ we rescue you!" Still as much of a wiseass as usual though. Kup is totally not protected by Rodimus Prime, because he instinctively dodges, which is... not a great idea right now. He is, in fact, set on fire, which does nothing to stop the stream of cusses. "Wire-wicked, half-welded PVC-for-chips nonsense!" Kup goes on like this for a while. "Hey, I saw an opportunity and I took it!" Rodimus shrugs as he pushes himself to a standing position, tone entirely too casual either for a man who's just survived an explosion, a man who's just been rescued, or a man whose mentor is on fire. He darts to one of the walls and makes a grab for a fire extinguisher, which he activates, directing it towards Kup. Roddy may be saving Kup from being burnt to a crisp... But that doesn't stop Sandstorm from pointing his electro-stinger rifle at the oldtimer's head all the same, having not entirely forgone what they were here for in the first place. "Okay, the blast wasn't expected, but I think you lose either way." Jayson Redfield stares. "Uh...okay. We're here to rescue the hostage. Yeah." He seems oddly calm about this--it could just be that he's still moping. Kup is covered in wet, sticky foam by Rodimus Prime. It puts out the fire! Now Kup is just charred and dripping, but unlike a Decepticon, he's not allergic to fire retardant foam. He puts his hands up and observes, "You did all right for a first run. Now, some terrorists might tie up the hostages, and gag them, too - and that'd be a different story. Some might not let themselves get distracted over the radio. Others mighta tried to kill the hostages when you busted in like that." "Not to mention that explosion might have killed some hostages," Rodimus adds, burshing some dirt off his shoulder and frowning at the damage to his paint job. He heads over to where he had flung his arm panel aside and makes a grab for it. "Not that that was your fault, of course." "And other times we might of had someone to hack the door open without having to bust through it," Sandstorm replies, then shrugs his shoulders a little. "And if they do kill the hostages? Then we no longer have a reason to try to take the terrorists alive," he adds flatly. It's one of the grimmer truths of war, really. After a moment he does start to smirk like usual though. "Not going straight to the shelter though, that was clever ya ol' crankcase." Combat: Kup strikes Sandstorm with his Grab attack! "And there are times when the terrorists are batshit insane," Jayson says. He sounds a little bitter. "Wouldn't mind putting a bullet through one, myself..." Kup lunges for Sandstorm and adds, "One other thing - don't let your guard down. A defeated zealot's an enemy with nothing to lose. Don't expect 'em to play nice." He lets Sandstorm go, some charred paint flaking off him as he moves. Sandstorm oofs as Kup jumps on him. Despite his age with enough force to make the Wrecker take a step back, but keeps his footing. "Too true, too true." And tries to put the oldster in a headlock with his arm when he starts to pull away from him. "Same can be said about us!" Combat: Sandstorm strikes Kup with his Grab attack! Combat: Sandstorm (Sandstorm) used "Grab": A Level 0 MELEE attack. Combat: You took 0 damage. Kup is pulled into a headlock by Sandstorm - Wreckers are a tough bunch, Kup has to give them that. As a matter of course, he tries to flip Sandstorm over him and slam him into the floor, remembering to pull the throw to something that shouldn't damage Sandstorm only as an afterthought. Combat: Kup strikes Sandstorm with his Grab attack! Combat: Gained 4 energon. Kup admits sheepishly, "...whoops. Sorry 'bout that." Jayson Redfield lifts his goggles as he watches the Autobots in silence. Rodimus Prime watches Kup and Sandstorm battle and strolls absently over to Jayson. He then sits down on the floor next to Jayson so he can continue to watch Kup and Sandstorm. He doesn't look directly at the human. Maybe not ENTIRELY without hurting him, the thud of Sandstorm being slammed on his back after being flipped is pretty loud. But he laughs it off, pointing one finger up at Kup. "Okay, I didn't expect you to be able to throw me over like that, I'll admit." But he leaves it at that, instead rolling over and kicking back up onto his feet. A 'non-lethal' fight could go on all night, and that'd just be dragging things out. Instead he glances over at what's left of the doors. Rubs the back of his cowling. "Sorry 'bout the door, but it was locked up pretty tight." Jayson Redfield doesn't look directly at Rodimus either. It takes a lot of courage for him to speak to the Autobot leader, and he does so without even glancing at him. "Do you hate me?" he asks quietly. It's something that's been bothering him ever since he spoke with the reprogrammed Prime...though he *could* just excuse it as the evil influence talking. Either way, it really stung him, and it shows. Rodimus Prime's optics flare up brightly. "What?!" He turns towards Jayson, still wide-eyed. "No! No, I don't hate you! Jayson, your friendship and your help is important to me, and has been for years!" Kup offers Sandstorm a friendly hand up from the floor after that throw, but his optics narrow thoughtfully as he overhears the discussion going on between Jayson and Rodimus Prime. Kup winces, just a bit. Reprogramming's a bad business. Jayson Redfield is quiet for a moment longer, then he turns his gaze to Rodimus. "That...means a lot, actually, hearing you say that. It's just...back then...those things you said to me...I felt like I was just a nuisance who gets in the way." A smile graces his features--it's been rare for him to do that these past couple weeks. "Thanks, Prime." Sandstorm opens his mouth to say something ... but stops at the other conversation going on, and accepts the help up without comment instead. "No, Jayson." Rodimus shakes his head. "No. You're not a nuisance. You, uhm... could show a little more, uhm, discretion in picking your battlefield opponents," Rodimus gives a faint, wry smirk, "but, well, you're not the only one around who has that trouble." Jayson Redfield blinks, then looks a bit sheepish and rubs the back of his neck. "Well, ah...Galvatron just pisses me off, that's all. But you're right--I'll try not to pick fights with the big guys." Kup doesn't look at Rodimus when he makes that comment, instead busying himself with brushing some of the soot off his frame. He asks Sandstorm, conversationally, "Any idea what you'd like to see next? See, I've been thinkin' about BASE jumping off Olympus Mons, but I'm worried that's a lil' too easy." Rodimus Prime grins and attempts to ruffle Jayson's head. "That's all I'm asking." Then he stands up and hrms. "Actually, some tunnel fighting might not be a bad idea, since we're going back to that lately. Oh, and zero-g." Jayson Redfield allows himself to be ruffled. It messes up his hair a bit. As he straightens it out, he looks up at the Autobots, from one to another, as each speaks. Sandstorm is likewise pretending to ignore the conversation, folding his hands behind his head. "Well, too easy for -me- maybe." He's also the one that has the flying altmode and has actually skydived into battle before. Kup listens to the suggestions thoughtfully and notes them down mentally. Tunnel fighting, zero-g... He muses aloud, "Might have to get the resident space cowboy in to help co-teach the zero-G, but tunnel fighting, I remember a campaign on Markhor IV, and the place was just lousy with tunnel snakes..." Sandstorm makes a face. "Ugh, tunnel snakes. Nasty things." Pauses, then smirks. "Well, unless you're with a coupla drill-tanks willin' to be eaten and then rip them from the inside." At least it looks like Rodimus and Jayson are making admends, so that's good too.